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Australians Support Same-Sex Marriage in Survey

Results of a survey released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that 61.6 percent of voters support same-sex marriage. The Australian government has vowed to put a proposal to parliament if voters supported same-sex marriage in the survey.

(Published Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017)

The majority of Australians support the country becoming the 26th nation to legalize same-sex marriage, the results of a survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday.

More than three quarters of the country's eligible voters took part in the non-compulsory survey, NBC News reported. The poll is non-binding but the government has pledged to put a proposal to parliament if voters were in favor of same-sex marriage.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said 61.6 percent of voters cast their ballots in support of same-sex marriage, with 38.4 percent opposing.

“With the rising tide of anti-LGBTQ laws and crackdowns around the world, citizens of Australia stood up for fairness and equality by supporting the right for everyone to marry the person they love,” Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD president and CEO, wrote in a statement. “Now it is on the Australian government to heed the will of its people and pass fully equal marriage without exemptions."

Prosecutors unveiled the full statement in court on Thursday against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, who is accused of fabricating a racist and homophobic attack against himself in a bid for publicity.